Monday, July 24, 2017

Leopard injures three of a family

ahmedabad, Jul 23 Three members of a family were injured after a leopard attacked them at Chakrava village in Khamba taluka of Amreli district in DHARI forest division late last night, a forest department official said.

Dinesh Chauhan, Manga Chauhan and Ajay Chauhan, three brothers, were sleeping in their thatched house in the village when a leopard entered and attacked them, leaving them injured, deputy conservator of forests (Gir East division), T Karuppasami said.

"The leopard entered the house at around 2 am when the three brothers were sleeping and attacked them, leaving them injured," Kuruppasami said.

As they raised alarm, villagers woke up and ran after the leopard, which escaped taking advantage of the darkness, he said.

The villagers contacted forest department officials of who rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation, the DCF said, adding that traps have been laid in the area and effort is on to nab the leopard.

"Meanwhile, the injured were taken to Dhari primary health centre, and from there to Amreli hospital," he said.

The village is located near Gir Wildlife Sanctuary which is also home to lions

Ahmedabad: Even as the abode of Asiatic lions is still three years away from the next census, the carnivores' roar is getting louder. Many newer areas in its vicinity known as Greater Gir, which includes parts of Bhavnagar District – have witnessed increased presence.

As per the 2015 Census, Gir had 109 lions and 201 lionesses besides 213 cubs and sub-adults compared to a total 411 in 2010. In the words of the Chief Conservator of Forests (Jun gadh Wildlife Circle), the number was below 200 in the late sixties!

Though there are reports every year of lion deaths owing to varous reasons, it's heartening that the pecentage declined to 0.7 % from the earlier 4 to 5%. Wells have been a major reason for such fatalities but parapets were constructed around 19,000 such structures.

However, the enhancement in lion population has posed challenges the biggest being a spree of attacks on humans. The animals killed at least five persons and injured a large number in Amreli and Gir Somnath districts within a period of three months last year. In Amreli, the Forest Department had to trap more than a dozen beasts following three incidents in which they also consumed parts of victims' bodies.

Though the occurrences were puzzling, the official denied speculation that these resulted from dearth of natural food in the jungle.

Another problem is to protect lions from nature's fury and other dangers. In 2015, the maximum 120 deaths were reported and at least 10 perished owing to extremely heavy rain. Though numerous cubs die every year, which is not uncommon, some are also claimed by road and train mishaps.

Gir is also home to over 300 leopards, the sambar and the chowsingha. It boasts 40-plus species of reptiles and amphibians. 'Sinh Darshan' is conducted in open jeeps throughout the year barring the monsoon months.

A lion cub that fell into an 80-feet-deep well in Gujarat's Gir region was rescued after a six-hour-operation on Saturday. The incident took place when a two-year-old female lion cub fell into a well near Amrapur village in the Gir Somnath district late on Friday night. She was found on Saturday morning by villagers who immediately informed the wildlife department officials. A rescue team that was rushed to the village managed to pull the cub out without any major injuries.

According to the wildlife department officials, the cub probably wandered away from her pride and fell into the deep well on Friday night.

A video shared by ANI on Twitter also shows how a forest official was lowered into the well to help fasten a rope around the cub to pull her out.

The cub has now been shifted to a forest department centre and will be released back into the wild once she's deemed fit and healthy.

Some very brave forest department officials have rescued a lioness from a well at Gir Somnath district.

It surely went beyond the call of duty! Some very brave forest department officials have rescued a lioness from a well at Gir Somnath district. The Gir forest of Gujarat is famous for its population of lions that attract a huge number of tourists to see them closely. However, the day brought a nightmare for one of the lionesses of the forest as it fell into a deep well, as per an ABP News report. According to the report, the lioness may have come to the town during the night and fell into the well, which was over 80-feet deep and had water at a level of up to 20-feet. In the morning, the villagers heard the sound of the animal and looked around. To their shock, they found the lioness inside the well and called the forest department. The officials reached the spot and started rescue efforts. During the rescue operation that lasted for more than two hours, they brought a cage to confine the lioness. After the cage was ready, a forest department worker went inside the well in a cage meant for this purpose and tried to tie a rope around the lioness' neck. To everyone's surprise, not least his own, the official succeeded! It helped the others to pull the animal to safety, the report added.

The incident was reported days after a one-of-its-kind incident in which a resident of Lunasapur village in Amreli district of Gujarat delivered a baby in the vicinity of the Gir forest of Gujarat in an ambulance after midnight. Manguben Makwana reportedly gave birth to a baby boy with the vehicle surrounded by a group of 12 lions who reportedly emerged from the adjacent forest near the remote village. During the incident, which lasted for around 20 minutes, the staff of the '108' ambulance tackled the situation with courage and helped Makwana in giving birth, while the group of lions blocked the passage of the vehicle.

Gir Somnath (Gujarat) A two-year-old lioness has been rescued by forest department officials from a well in Gujarat's Amrapur village in Gir Somnath district. Reportedly, the lioness may have come to the town during night and fell into the well which was filled with water and over 80-feet deep.

In the morning the villagers heard the sound of the animal and informed the forest department. The officials reached the spot and rescued the lioness. The rescue operation lasted for more than two hours.

Wild Gir Lioness falls in village well, rescued

Rajkot: Having heard a SOS in the form of growl, the locals reacted and to their surprise located a young lioness helplessly looking upwards for rescue.Yes, a young lioness after having strayed from the Gir forest on a village periphery in search of food, accidentally fell in a farm well of Amrapur village in Sutrapada Taluka in Gir Somnath district, early on Wednesday.

A senior forest official said that the lioness after having strayed from the confines of the reserve forest, somehow fell into the well that was at least 50-feet deep.

"It was only in the morning when the helpless lioness was spotted by the villagers after hearing some kind of moans from the feline," said the forest official.

He said that the villagers without wasting time, informed the local forest department who without promptly rushed to the village to rescue the lioness from the well.

"Only after over a two-hour-long operation, the lioness was rescued from the well," said the official.

It was immediatly shifted to the Sasan-Gir Animal Care Centre for treatment for injuries if any it may have suffered after the accidental fall.

After keeping the animal under strict observation at the animal care centre for the next couple of days, a decision would be taken regarding its release in the wild, said the forest official.

According to forest officials, the lioness might have fallen into the well, which is over 50-feet deep, at night. In the morning, villagers heard some sound and found the lioness inside the well and informed the forest department.

What followed was a two-hour-long operation to rescue the lioness that had gone in a state of shock. After the rescue, the lioness was sent to the Sasan-Gir Animal Care Centre for treatment for any injuries that it might have suffered due to the fall.

Forest officials said that the lioness will be kept under observation at the animal care centre for a couple of days, before it is released into the wild.

Gujarat: Woman gives birth surrounded by lions

Junagadh (Gujarat) [India], July 02 : In a bizarre incident, a pregnant woman gave birth to a child surrounded by dozens of lions in Gir forest area in an ambulance after midnight

The pride surrounded the ambulance carrying a pregnant woman for delivery near Lunsapur village in Jafrabad taluka of Amreli, forcing the woman to deliver the baby in the vehicle itself.

About three kilometers from the village, paramedics encountered a pride of lions on the road.

By that time the woman, who was pregnant with her fourth child, went into labour and was in great pain. Since the ambulance was surrounded by the lions, it was decided that the baby will have to be delivered in the vehicle itself.

"The staff stopped the ambulance and waited for lions to leave. But that did not happen," Amreli district head of the 108 emergency ambulance service Chetan Gadhia said.

"The staff contacted our physician over phone and gave details of delivery. The delivery took about 25 minutes, and the entire time the lions were moving around the ambulance," Gadhia added.

After waiting for some time, the driver decided to move away from that place and started driving slowly. The lions evacuated the road and soon the road was clear.

This is not the first instance where the paramedics of the 108 emergency ambulance service had encountered lions while on call.

The staff has been trained to deal with such situations as lions are frequently sighted in villages of Amreli.

DNA

The Gujarat government today informed the high court that the Centre had on June 19 granted it final permission to start Ambardi lion safari on the eastern side of the Gir National Park.

The state was responding to a PIL challenging the government's earlier announcement that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had on June 5 given it a final nod to start the lion safari at Ambardi park.

The government's counsel today told the division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi that it has received final permission to start the lion safari at Ambardi from the ministry concerned and produced the official document regarding the same dated June 19.

The court was hearing the PIL which had contended that only the technical committee of Central Zoo Authority has finalised a report on the state government's proposal to start the lion safari, and this cannot be construed as a final nod as the committee is not empowered for the same.

The PIL was filed by Biren Pandya, who had challenged the earlier announcement of government which had said that it had received permission on June 5.

The PIL had challenged the state government's lion safari proposal on around 400 hectare of fenced areas for tourists.

It has sought court's direction to the government to set aside the plan to convert the forest area into lion safari claiming it will damage the eco-sensitive zone.

However, today government counsel told the court that a newly-appointed technical committee of the MoEF had given a go-ahead to the project and a final order regarding this was passed on June 19 by MoEF.

The matter will be next heard on July 6.

The court had during earlier hearing asked state government and Centre to clarify their stand on the matter.

The new proposed lion safari aims to take tourist load off the existing Gir National Park.

As per the latest census carried out by the state forest department in 2015, Gujarat is home to 523 lions in Gir forest and other areas in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.